September 21, 2012 12:06am EDTSeptember 20, 2012 12:23pm EDTThe Pirates were a season-high 16 games over .500 on Aug. 8 but now are in danger of a 20th consecutive losing season, especially after Thursday's disheartening loss the Brewers. SN's Stan McNeal reflects on the collapse.

Give this much to the Pittsburgh Pirates: This year’s collapse has been a total team effort.

Pitching, hitting, defense … it all has fallen apart as a season that looked so promising just a month ago has turned into a sad situation. Since Aug. 20, the Pirates’ pitching staff has posted the third-highest ERA, their offense has scored the fifth-fewest runs and their defense has allowed the most unearned runs in the National League.

The result has been a 7-20 skid that not only has taken Pittsburgh out of playoff contention but left it in need of a dramatic turnaround to avoid another losing season. This would be the franchise’s 20th consecutive sub-.500 finish, extending what already is the longest streak of losing seasons in the history of U.S. pro sports.

Shortly before the Pirates’ plummet began, I was talking to reliever Jason Grilli about the team’s strong season. We talked about Andrew McCutchen deserving the MVP, about the positive vibe established in the clubhouse by manager Clint Hurdle, about being in the playoff race so deep into the season.

“A lot of people come up and talk to me about a winning season,” Grilli said. “A winning season might be what they’re thinking about but not us. We have our sights set higher than that.”

Two days later, the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 19 innings and moved two games ahead of them in the standings. Considering that the Pirates’ second-half troubles last season coincided with a 19-inning loss, the marathon victory seemed like an appropriate omen for 2012.

Oh, well. Pittsburgh then lost three consecutive games in San Diego and never recovered.

Now we are left to wonder how much this season’s collapse will carry over to next season. By the All-Star break this year, the Pirates already—and understandably—had grown weary of being asked about their 2011 collapse. Now they are certain to enter 2013 hearing the same kind of questions, only reinforced another disappointing second half.

Maybe the club will be more aggressive next year at the nonwaiver trading deadline. As valuable as are prospects—and the Pirates have at least three of the most valued in the game—sometimes you need to be bold. Trading for Wandy Rodriguez, Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider and Chad Qualls hardly was bold.

Rodriguez has been effective, going 4-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 11 games (10 starts). But the other three have contributed about as much as expected, which isn’t much. Sanchez and Snider have combined for four homers, and Qualls has a 7.94 ERA in 14 appearances.

You can say this about the newcomers, though: They have fit right in on a sinking team.